Fighter jets rock residents of Upper Cape

Two F-16 jets made emergency landings at Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod Thursday morning, causing a stir in the four Upper Cape towns that surround the military base.

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By GEORGE BRENNAN

capecodtimes.com

By GEORGE BRENNAN

Posted Apr. 13, 2012 at 2:00 AM

By GEORGE BRENNAN
Posted Apr. 13, 2012 at 2:00 AM

F-16s land safely on Cape

6:54 a.m.: A pair of jets headed to Afghanistan from South Carolina report one has a mechanical issue. Jets reroute to Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod.7:54 a.m.: Jets land safely on Cape Cod ...

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F-16s land safely on Cape

6:54 a.m.: A pair of jets headed to Afghanistan from South Carolina report one has a mechanical issue. Jets reroute to Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod.

7:54 a.m.: Jets land safely on Cape Cod after flying over the Cape for awhile to burn fuel.

8:21 a.m.: A second pair of jets headed to Afghanistan also report mechanical problems and reroute to Cape Cod. Jets were also from the 169th Fighter Wing of the South Carolina Air National Guard.

9:03 a.m.: Second jet with mechanical problem lands safely after lingering in the air over the Cape to burn fuel.

Source: Massachusetts Military Reservation Fire Department

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Two F-16 jets made emergency landings at Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod Thursday morning, causing a stir in the four Upper Cape towns that surround the military base.

Part of a deployment from South Carolina to Afghanistan, the jets landed at Air Station Cape Cod to check a mechanical issue with the plane, Maj. Jim Roth, a spokesman for the South Carolina Air National Guard, said.

Two of the jet pilots were concerned about a problem and landed as a precaution, Roth said. Each was accompanied by another jet, a so-called wingman, which also landed at the Cape airstrip, he said.

The four jets were part of a deployment of more than a dozen F-16s headed overseas with an overall deployment of 500 airmen and women, Roth said. They took off from McEntire Joint National Guard Base in Eastover, S.C., and are part of the 169th Fighter Wing.

"It's not anything we're too excited about. It's a pretty normal thing," Roth said. "There were two different jets that were experiencing mechanical problems and each one has a spare with them. They all pulled over to make sure they were cool."

The booming engines broke the morning quiet over Cape Cod, reminiscent of when the 102nd Fighter Wing launched F-15s from Otis Air National Guard Base on a routine basis. In 2007, those jets were moved to Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield as ordered by a Department of Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission.

"The noise was intense," Chip Bishop, who lives in Mashpee, said. "This was constant for about an hour. I had no idea there was an emergency. I thought it was a training exercise."

Katherine Stankiewicz, another Mashpee resident, had similar thoughts. "I watched them for a while and they looked like they were having a glorious time," she said.

After learning that it was an emergency, Stankiewicz said she was more concerned, "especially in light of that (Navy) crash down in Virginia."

In that case, an F-18 Navy jet crashed into an apartment complex in Virginia Beach on April 6.

On Thursday, rescue crews from the Massachusetts Military Reservation Fire Department were on alert under the direction of Capt. Michael Ayotte as the jets safely landed — one at about 7:45 a.m. and a second at about 9:03 a.m. The jets were expected to stay at the base overnight.

"It's unique," Lt. Eric Weston of the MMR Fire Department said.

"We no longer have the F-15s, so it's more transient aircraft. It's certainly not an everyday occurrence."

One of the jets flew over the skies of Cape Cod for about an hour before landing and the second jet in distress flew over for about a half-hour.

In both cases, the pilot was burning off excess fuel to prepare for the emergency landing, Roth said.

"That's pretty standard practice. If they're landing at a base that doesn't have a cable for catching them, it makes it easier and safer to land," Roth said. "It's not unusual for them to divert. They'll have a quick look and get them moving again."